Former Newcastle United footballer Nile Ranger raped a woman in a hotel room after sending her a string of messages on WhatsApp, a court heard today.

The woman was attacked while drunk days after telling the 22-year-old striker that she just wanted to be friends, the jury was told.

Ranger - who now plays for League One side Swindon Town - claims that the woman consented to sex.

Accused: Nile Ranger, 22, who now plays football for Swindon Town, is seen arriving at Newcastle Crown Court today with a female companion

Trial: Jurors were told by the judge to ignore Nile Ranger's 'celebrity status' when considering the evidence

The court heard the woman was so drunk that she remembers nothing of the alleged attack and only discovered what had happened when she woke up naked next to him the following morning.

The pair spent the evening drinking together in Newcastle on the night of the alleged attack before going back to a hotel room in the Jesmond area of the city.

Christine Egerton, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: 'They met up by arrangement and went socialising together. As far as she was concerned they were friends, as far as he was concerned he wanted more. It went further than that as he was pestering her.

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'She was so intoxicated either through drink or something unknown she found it difficult to walk and she has no memory whatsoever of what occurred.

'When she woke up in the morning she found she was naked in bed with the defendant who was also naked.

'She had no idea where she was. She asked the defendant where they were and if they had had sex. He said they had and she should take the morning after pill.

'She was upset and ran to the bathroom. She found out she was in the Carlton Hotel in Jesmond.

'She left the hotel, she didn't even know how to get out. She used her phone to ring a taxi and she got in the taxi and went home.

Trial: Ranger denies rape and claims that his alleged victim consented to sex

Charged: Ranger, 22, denies a single count of rape

'In the days leading up to the allegation they had been communicating by text and WhatsApp.'

The jury was told that the woman later told a friend what had happened who urged her to go and see her GP. The next day she reported the incident to police.

The jury was played a video of her first interview with police in which she said she had made clear to the footballer that she just wanted to be friends with him.

'I woke up and I didn't have a clue where I was,' she said.

'I had no recollection of going back to the hotel room. I saw some menus and I turned around and I saw Nile lying next to me.

'I remember feeling really sick. I have never felt like that before. His body made me feel physically sick I couldn't move. I knew something had happened when I woke up with no clothes on.'

She said she only discovered which nightclub she had been in when she saw a stamp on her arm.

In the interview, she added: 'I told him from day one I did not want to be anything but friends with him. I told him that.'

Court case: Nile Ranger, 22, pictured here playing for Newcastle United, now plays for Swindon Town in League One

'He was interviewed and asked by police to give his version of events,' she added. 'He agreed that he had been with the victim that night and that they had been in a hotel room. He said that they had sex twice that night. He said she was consenting.'

The jury were shown CCTV footage of Ranger and the victim getting out of a taxi. The victim could not stand straight as she got out of the taxi and had to be helped into the hotel by the defendant.

Christine Egerton said: 'The CCTV footage clearly demonstrates the state she was in at the time. She fell out of the taxi.'

Earlier Judge John Evans told the jurors that they should ignore the footballer's 'celebrity status' when considering the evidence.

Judge
John Evans told the jury: 'The defendant is a man who some time ago
played football for Newcastle United. He is no longer at that club, he
is at another club.

'At the
time he played at Newcastle United inevitably in the minds of some he
acquired a celebrity status amongst the media and many members of the
public.

'The defendant is on
trial and you should approach him in the same way as you would approach
any other member of the public on trial for this allegation.'